China is posting the steepest drop in COVID deaths among more than 20 places hit hardest by omicron, reviving questions about its virus data and the true impact of the reopening wave as Beijing works to move on from the pandemic.
After meticulously tracking cases for most of the pandemic, China abruptly abandoned its signature zero-tolerance policy at the end of 2022, halting mass testing, quarantines and lockdowns, and narrowing its definition of what constitutes a COVID death. Now, China’s mortality rate is falling at the fastest pace of all the places globally that saw massive omicron waves last year, defined as killing at least 150 people a day at their peak.
Reported deaths at China’s hospitals plummeted to 102 last Monday, from 4,273 on Jan. 4, a decline so steep that it’s fueling concerns over data obfuscation. In comparison, deaths in the U.S. — which rolled out more effective vaccines — peaked at just over 2,600 a day during the height of its omicron wave in early 2022, falling to about 1,400 just over a month later.
